Raise
by Caddie
Summary: AU Cloud once owned his soul, but unlike so many others that sold theirs, he still remembers how it’s supposed to be used. ZackCloud smut oneshot with few mentions of other FF and KH Characters


Title: Raise

Pairing: Zack/Cloud implied Angeal/Zack Sephiroth/Zack

So, at least a year ago, I came up with this little concept of a universe to play with where Cloud and Leon, known as FFVIII's Squall, after saving their worlds, were reborn on the same world to become friends of a sort as a sort of reward. But then something big happened where they were torn apart, and separated aka KH style, to where Hades tricked them in to working/serving under him. It literally became a huge project involving a bunch of the Final Fantasy and Kingdom hearts universes that I was like, 'never will I attempt to write this, for I will never do the idea justice'. But then, procrastination involving a 17page Chemistry paper happened where all I wanted to do was write smut.

Have fun reading the smut, and if you don't get it. Don't worry. I won't be offended, as I think I'd actually have to write more in this little universe for the characters' motives to truly be understood, and why Cloud has been allowed to return to his world.

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Three months and six days in to the SOLDIER program, Cloud Strife awoke in a cold sweat. The sheets were tangled down at his legs, and he balked at how everything seemed so dark in the barracks. A cadet groaned in his sleep a few bunks away, and Cloud remembered.

Remembered the dark, and the cold – all the hell fire. He remembered what he truly was, a Guardian of sorts, and he nearly let out a sob of relief that the God he sold his soul to was allowing him one wish: to return and just enjoy life for a while.

Cloud let his head fall back in to his pillow, unaware that he had lifted it at all, and just relaxed. He didn't know why the God he protected had felt it alright for him to take a break of sorts. Maybe it was to inspire even more of a faithful attitude, a bolder warrior, but whatever it was Cloud couldn't bring himself to care. His eyes closed wearily as he revealed in the weaknesses his body now had. His body that had taken him in to battle as a Guardian rarely had grown fatigued and this was a pleasant change. He only had a month, probably even less, to enjoy this break from fighting like the attack dog he was trained to be and he intended to enjoy it, he thought, as he fell in to a dreamless sleep.

Cloud Strife awoke promptly at six, his fellow cadets stirring out of their beds as he got out of his own. He nearly smiled at the ache in his bones from the training session he had probably done yesterday, but squashed the ecstatic feeling down – he had rarely smiled while he was alive, and if he started now, his fellow cadets might grow suspicious.

The shower reminded him how he never liked being naked, and he frowned as he quickly dressed. Even Leon, the other Guardian, had never seen him naked and Cloud pulled on his standard issue cadet boots and wondered what Leon was doing now. Probably picking up the extra work that was the result of their being only one Guardian now in their God's court.

Perhaps Aerith was keeping the other man busy? Picking flowers maybe, or asking him to show her another defensive move? Yuffie occasionally visited them – her soul preferred to travel, and as the Lifestream was meshed over a series of other worlds and times, she had plenty of places to choose from and realities to tangle herself in. Cid was probably drinking tea with that kid, Sora, and telling stories about his travels and his adventure in to space. It was difficult to age when all you were was a soul.

Cloud threw himself in to training that morning, and his instructor – Mauri, First Class SOLDIER, even commented on his improved stance. Cloud could have rolled his eyes at how easy everything seemed to be, and relished the ache in his muscles even more. He had missed it, although he wished he could wipe the smirk from his sparring partner's face as a hit fell on his side.

As Cloud wondered if it would bruise – something he hadn't seen on his body for so long as the contusions healed too quickly to notice, he finally placed a name to his sparring partner's face.

Williams. Cloud even remembered how he died, and as he dodged the next blow that Williams might have landed on his other side, Cloud knew that it was a painful thing – to return to a world where even if some of the events were changed, there was still some law in effect that would right the natural order of the things, meaning that even if he ran to Zack and told the man, convinced him to leave Shinra, Zack would still die by a different means.

It was a cruel law, and Cloud remembered when Leon had gone back to his own world much like Cloud was doing now. He had done something, Leon said, to a sorceress but nothing had a changed the fates of many he explained to Cloud, a small, sad smile on his face.

Because fate wasn't meant to change.

A whistle blew and Cloud backed away from his sparring partner. Williams and he were both drenched in sweat, and Cloud brushed beads of it from his forehead.

Fate. It wasn't fair, Cloud supposed, willing himself not to care as Williams stepped away from him to drink heavily from a clear water bottle. Cloud could see Williams years from now, as a mutilated corpse. Just another casualty by Sephiroth's hand.

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Dinner in the mess hall made Cloud grimace, especially when the person dishing out the food placed a glob of something unidentifiable on his plate. Cloud hadn't missed this and wondered what Laguna was up to. The man always had a chocolate bar on him, just for Cloud, and if he didn't, he always had a story to tell which amused Cloud far more than a bar of chocolate.

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In the dark of the night, while Cloud feigned sleep, he could hear them. Not as well as he could've if he had his mako-enhanced hearing, but he still managed to pick up the soft cries of hormonal young men masturbating in their bunks. He could feel himself grow hard. Sex wasn't something he participated often in as a Guardian as there were few men or woman he could actually handle in bed without hurting them. Leon was one of them, but they rarely did anything, as Leon was still very much attached to another man named Seifer. Cloud had never met Seifer, but from the way Leon spoke of him, or rather the lack of his comments on the man, made Cloud wonder what type of man Seifer was.

After all, Cloud had told Leon about Zack and the General. All the details: including his awkward first time with Zack and his continued fight with Sephiroth. Cloud smiled to himself in the dark, remembering that night.

He wondered what Zack was doing right now – perhaps in the General's bed, or maybe Angeal's. Cloud's memory was a bit fuzzy about who it was that Zack was fucking around with before they started having sex.

Perhaps it was the General? Cloud bit back a moan as he imagined the General's silver hair falling over Zack's nude body as the First Class uniform lay discarded in the corner of Sephiroth's bedroom. A frown tugged at Cloud's lips as he began reaching down to touch himself. Was Zack even a First Class? Or was he still a Second Class serving under Angeal?

At the thought of Angeal, Cloud imagined Zack quite literally under Angeal as he fisted himself. His body felt too hot, and he moaned a blessing softly at how horny he was. He came within minutes, and wiped the cooling semen off with yesterday's clothes. Yes, Cloud thought that he should certainly look for Zack in this short time – he missed the warmth of his friend's body, and the playful seduction the Zack of his lifetime had done to secure Cloud in his bed.

Four days was all it took for Cloud to find Zack. It took five days for Cloud to accidently bump into him, and Zack had spilled the paperwork he had been carrying – to Angeal's office most-likely, and Cloud was going to take the advantage to seduce Zack the way he had been seduced by the brunet a lifetime ago.

"Oh, sorry!" Zack said a sheepish look on his face. Cloud could have kissed him, just for the familiarity and nostalgia that look brought him.

Cloud shook his head, "I should have been watching where I was going." Cloud smiled shyly. Hadn't that been what Zack had told him he had had been drawn to the most? That innocent air that Cloud had just seemed to radiate?

Cloud wondered if he still gave off that innocent air still, especially since he'd only be in this body for perhaps another week if he was lucky. After his soul left this body, the soul of the Cloud that truly belonged in this world would return and only remember the things he did fuzzily.

Licking his lips almost hesitantly, Cloud watched as Zack's eyes were drawn to his lips. He nearly felt bad at how easy this was, but the guilt was crushed as Cloud remembered that fate would have drawn Zack to him anyway. Better to be in control of it now, then never at all.

"Sorry, Sir." Cloud said slowly, moving his lips in such a way that he knew that Zack had to be thinking of things other than apologies.

Zack waved it off, "Ah, no 'Sir'. Okay?" The grin was cheerful as Zack cocked his head to the side, looking very much like the puppy Cloud had heard him referred to as. "Name's Zack!"

"Cloud," he replied, bring up his hand to shake Zack's. The fingers felt warm against his, so alive, and Cloud smiled, not burdened by the thought that this Zack would die in about ten years. There will always be more Zacks, he thought as he helped Zack collect the last of the paperwork off the floor.

"Well, see you around, Cloud," Zack said cheerfully as he walked away, obviously in a hurry to the office where he needed to get the paperwork.

Cloud watched Zack walk away, and remembered from a long, long time ago, from when he had lived his lifetime, that Zack used to tell him kinky stories under the bed sheets about how Angeal had this secret fetish to give Zack an excuse to come to his office just to be fucked on the desk. Cloud wondered if that was the case now – that Zack was moaning Angeal's name at this very moment as his mentor began to push off paperwork to spread Zack's legs, about to give him a mind-blowing fuck.

The thought was making Cloud hard, and the blond pushed open the nearest men's bathroom door to jerk himself off. As he left the bathroom, the secretary down at the other end of the hall gave him a suspicious look, as if to ask why he was on one of floors that housed the offices of the executives that got things done in Shinra. Cloud frowned at her, almost shying back a little – how easy it was to pretend to be intimidated now that he knew the fates of the majority of Shinra's employees.

He walked out of the hallway, away from the prying eyes of the secretary with the brunette bob and the red polished nails, and to his tactics class.

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It was a weekend when Cloud met Zack again, and Cloud anticipated that he was running out of time. His vision was beginning to blur every now and then, and Cloud estimated that he only had about two more days until his soul returned to the capital that he guarded with Leon.

Cloud didn't want to return to that life of taking orders, much like an attack dog, and he expressed this as he kissed Zack furiously. Perhaps he had had too much to drink, his mind supplied. Cloud had stopped drinking any type of liquor when he was granted Guardianship of the capital, as it really did nothing for him. But in this body, the one that Zack was running his hands up and down, it felt wonderful. Like, every move he made seemed like he was about to become lightless and just fly away. Every sway caused by the shots he had ingested earlier made his head spin in the most delightful way, and Cloud laughed against Zack's uniform because he was drunk. He was _living_.

He was wrong, by the way. Zack was still a Second Class SOLDIER, but Cloud knew that would change in a few weeks time. Cloud remembered the promotional sex that he and Zack had had.

Zack needed more alcohol to get even the littlest bit tipsy, and throwing down at least five more shots, of very, very hard liquor, than Cloud had caused even the brunet to sway with Cloud as he walked them both back to an apartment.

Cloud wondered if he could convince Zack on the first night to pull out the cuffs. Cloud remembered loving those. But, Cloud frowned, which immediately turned to a pout, he was supposed to be naïve – perfectly innocent. It would seem suspicious, and perhaps even cause trouble when the original soul of this body returned. How perfect a body it was - nothing at all like the hardened warrior body he had obtained through Guardianship.

It was soft, and it reacted to all of Zack's touches, and Cloud moaned pleas to Zack's mouth as they stumbled across the threshold of Zack's apartment. Just once, Cloud wanted something just for himself and he nearly growled in frustration as his vision blurred Zack's face. It was becoming more difficult to keep a hold of this body, to stay in this time and dimension.

Gaia help the God who stood against the Guardian if he was pulled away from a night of raw carnal pleasure just to return to a position where he wasn't allowed to have feelings. The only touches he received were in battle and from the blade of an opponent that managed to slice him – rare as it was, it did happen, or those timid, tentative touches from Tifa or Aerith as they asked him if he was okay. Leon would touch him sometimes, but it was nothing like the way Zack's hands were touching him. His hands were creating a path of fire along his sensitive body as they traveled down to the button of his civilian jeans.

Swift fingers popped the button as Zack still kissed him. The man was pressing him in to the counter now; a kitchen counter that Cloud remembered had been defiled several times in another lifetime. Even the stone countertop was the same black shade that Cloud remembered so clearly.

Zack was stripping off Cloud's jeans now, pulling them down to his ankles, leaving them there and drawing Cloud's legs up off the floor and ankles over his back to rest behind him. He was making himself comfortable and rubbing against the budge of Cloud's arousal with his own. They both let out keening moans, and Cloud felt that his was the loudest. How long had he gone without sex? It seemed like so long ago.

Zack was removing their tops now, still rubbing against Cloud and they both panted against each other. Cloud could feel that he was quickly going to come to an amazing orgasm, and the way that Zack was breathing meant that he was so close too. Cloud could feel the way Zack clenched a hand against his left bicep, with a grip so restrained from the strength that mako provided that Cloud could feel himself becoming even more aroused. He just wanted to be used tonight. Fucked raw.

He came at the image that his imagination provided him – Zack taking him against the kitchen countertop, penetrating him with a guttural moan. His head hit the polished black cabinets as Zack grinded in to him, finally reaching orgasm. He saw stars, as his head ached, and the only thing that kept him from blacking out was the possibility that he might not wake up in this world when he came too. Then he'd never, for at least a very long time, have this chance again to relive the past. He let out a swift, silent prayer that he hadn't hit his head enough to get a concussion so that when the original soul, when it reclaimed his body, could enjoy the tender ache in this body's backside, rather than suffer through a visit to the lab bay where Doctor Hojo was.

Doctor Hojo. Cloud wished the man were dead, but even if the man were dead, fate would find a way to settle everything back on the course of Jenova, only because her calamity was inevitable. In post-orgasmic bliss, Cloud watched as Zack still rubbed against his clothed erection. They were still wearing their underwear, and Cloud smiled as Zack began to kiss him.

"You know, I normally don't take people I've only just met back to my apartment," Zack whispered huskily as he broke their kiss, "but if you're willing to let me make an exception this once, I'd love to fully debauch you.

"I bet you'd look great on my sheets," he rolled his lips against the tender spot near Cloud's ear, and the blonde beneath him began to feel himself stir, "or even better on my carpet. Would you mind if I fucked you in just the right way, that when you showered with your squad they'd see how much fun we had?" Zack began to knead at the base Cloud's spine, as they both started to become fully erect. "Or, if rug burn doesn't appeal to you, and if it doesn't I don't mind 'cause I don't need your skin to be chafed to mark you as mine, you can ride me. You'd like that that?" his eyes flashed, a dark blue tinted with a hint of mako green, as Cloud felt the pleasure of the cold stone countertop and the warmth of the SOLDIER body trapping him to it.

"I want it, I want it so much," Cloud moaned as Zack slid a hand under a well firmed buttock and squeezed.

Zack was almost grinning, "I love how innocent that sounds from you. You say that like you're a-" a look of shock flashed through his eyes, and he ducked out from Cloud's legs and stepped away from the blond tempting him like the best dessert on his kitchen counter.

Cloud nearly rolled his eyes as he watched as Zack sobered up a bit from the realization that the pretty thing he was about to screw was a virgin. His body felt light, and he swayed just a bit when he slid from the countertop to the tiled floor. The alcohol made him feel light as he wrapped arms around Zack's neck to pull them closer together. The pants around his feet made this a somewhat difficult task, but as Zack kissed him now with apprehension, Cloud took his hands from Zack's neck to Zack's own hands and guided them down to the small of his back. Zack's hands from there seemed to know that it was okay to travel down further, and Cloud let out an appreciative moan.

Zack kissed now with less apprehension, and Cloud was determined that they both enjoy themselves as kicked his pants off finally and began to walk them to the bedroom. Zack, after a few steps, switched them around and believing that this was Cloud's first time in his apartment, led the way to the small bedroom.

It was almost like he remembered it, although in Cloud's lifetime, there had been no pictures of Angeal at all in Zack's room – it had hurt Zack too much to look at them after Angeal's death, but now there was picture of student in mentor on the farthest corner of the nightstand next to Zack's bed. The bed was still as soft, and Cloud let Zack push him down in to the forest green sheets. The lump from the spring that had come free in the mattress was still there, like Cloud remembered, and he could feel it digging in to his back as Zack finally stripped them both of their remaining clothes.

Cloud's erection sprang free, and he turned his head to breathe a sigh of relief as some of the pressure was released. Greedy moans fell from his throat as Zack went down on him, and he raked his short nails up Zack's back, remembering that that had always made Zack even more aroused. In response, Zack moaned as he bobbed his head along Cloud's member. Cloud loved the way Zack's hands were pressing him down in the mattress, and hated it as well – he wanted to thrust in to that mouth, just like he had a lifetime ago, where Zack would then flip him over, prep him with at least two, maybe three fingers, and then they'd proceed to just enjoy going at it.

Zack swallowed him down and Cloud arched his back as he came, running his hands through Zack's wonderfully short and spiky hair. Zack removed his mouth from Cloud's softening member and kissed the blond. Cloud moaned in to it and took two of Zack's fingers in to his mouth and sucked on them. Zack let out a shaky breath as he watched Cloud's tongue flicker out occasionally, and his lips worked perfectly around the two digits.

Zack slipped his fingers with almost a bit of reluctance from Cloud's mouth, and the man beneath him let out a whimper of disappointment. He ran one spit slicked finger up that delicate skin that puckered and Cloud let out a shuddering breath as Zack gently teased him. The pressure from Zack's body on the bed lifted, as Zack rolled over Cloud to the nightstand, where Cloud knew the older man kept at least seven condoms – one for every night of the week, Zack would joke as he and Cloud would fall in to bed together. Pulling one out and over his erection, Zack, Cloud could see he was pulling out a lube bottle too.

The bottle was nearly empty, and Cloud wondered if it had been that way when Zack and he first had sex in a lifetime ago. He couldn't bring himself to really care as Zack pressed one lubed finger in to him, being gentle and brushing away blond bangs with his other hand. Another finger joined, and they separated the muscles apart. Cloud whimpered with need as Zack gently thrust the fingers slowly, and Cloud clamped around them in a way he remembered Zack liking. Apparently, even this Zack liked the way it felt, as Cloud could hear the gasp from Zack's lips.

Zack pushed in to him slowly after spreading a generous amount of lubricant around inside Cloud, and Cloud groaned at the feeling of being filled, legs spread open so he was exposed on the mattress to everything Zack had to offer. Zack breathed in Cloud's ear to relax, and Cloud did as the man began to steadily thrust back and forth.

This was so much better; to have something he missed finally back again. It was like he had a little bit of his soul back. He missed the warmth of Zack's body, and the heat of Zack's voice – he missed everything that was Zack. But he wanted it harder, and he pushed back against Zack, matching Zack's steadied thrusts. The sound of skin slapping together became even more pronounced as Cloud lifted a leg and threw it over Zack's shoulder, changing the angle and allowing Zack to penetrate even deeper. Zack gave a cry as he sunk in to more welcome heat and Cloud brought his hands to up to Zack's shoulders to clench at them and dig nails in every time Zack hit his prostate.

Zack came as Cloud's warm heat clamped down again and again in response to every time the sensitized tip of his erection brushed Cloud's prostate. Cloud came a moment after, his ejaculation slowed a bit by the fact that he already had an orgasm earlier and that he still had alcohol in his system.

The condom was discarded when Zack pulled out, and Cloud was immediately brought to Zack's chest. Cloud licked at Zack's neck, intending for more of anything – foreplay, sex, name it, and he wanted it, just for tonight. But Zack was closing his eyes now, and murmuring for Cloud to go to sleep 'cause then they could have awesome morning wake-up sex if Cloud still wanted to stay with him.

Of course Cloud wanted to stay with him, and as Cloud closed his eyes, he could feel the tears he was trying not to shed moisten his eyelashes. Of course Cloud wanted to stay with him, but fate was even crueler like that – letting him come back for a short period of time and experiencing a period of happiness, of normalcy.

Because, Cloud realized as he awoke in his room in one of the capital's main buildings the next morning, Guardians were only allowed to truly protect one person – the God they sold their soul too, but never gave their heart.

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Right now, this story is longer than the start of the paper that I have due in a few hours. But this was totally worth it, as I rarely write any type of porn, so I hope everyone had just as much fun reading this as I did writing it.


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